EC Says It Can Deliver Joint Polls in Six Months

The Election Commission has announced that in case the Lok Sabha and state assembly elections are held simultaneously, it can make the process operationally ready by six months in advance, Parliament's Joint Committee on the 'One Nation, One Election' chaired by its chairman P.P. Chaudhary said on Wednesday.

A Preliminary but Significant Signal

The consultation process took place over the last three days and the initial findings of the election commission suggest that simultaneous elections are "administratively feasible" with enough time, Chaudhary said after the committee's deliberations.

Poll body had said that simultaneous polls across the country could be possible providing it gets six months' in advance notice, he said in the report issued by Deccan Herald.

He said that if Parliament does pass the enabling law by 2028, the Commission can imagine holding the first simultaneous elections in 2029.

The extent of preparation needed

While a detailed presentation from the Commission is yet to come, estimates of votes to be cast in operational mode indicate that procurement, testing and secure storage of the required voting-machine components would be a massive task — with over one crore expected to be required — including about 48 lakh ballot units, 35 lakh control units and 34 lakh Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines.

There remain major constitutional and political hurdles that must be overcome

The idea is based on the recommendations made by the high-level committee, headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind, that called for simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls as a first step, followed by municipal and panchayat elections within 100 days, and a common electoral roll to be developed in consultation with the state election commissions.

The amendment will require a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament (as well as a two-thirds majority in each House exceeding half of its members), and some provisions may further require ratification by at least half of India's States.

Chaudhary said that what had been said by the experts appearing before the bench was that the plan does not violate the basic structure, federalism and democratic principles of the Constitution.

The experts' view was that the timetable for Lok Sabha and assembly polls was just a way of keeping them together without affecting the powers or rights of the states, he said.

Opposition Concerns

Opposition parties and some constitutional experts have voiced apprehensions on the issue of federalism, as well as the lack of elected state assemblies and what happens if a government loses its majority in the middle of its term in office under the new model.

Why It Matters

The Commission's operational assessment is a key technical step in a debate that at its heart is political and which stakeholders say will depend as much on the cross-party consensus and state ratification as on logistical readiness.